In conventional mouthpieces for musical wind instruments, such as clarinet mouthpieces, for example, the foot portion of a bamboo reed is affixed to a support surface in the mouthpiece casing by means of a ligature. The blade of the reed protrudes above the top of the mouthpiece casing with the tip of the reed blade disposed proximate the leading edge of the casing.
The width of the gap between the tip of the reed blade and the top surface of the leading edge of the mouthpiece casing is an important factor in determining the quality of sound produced by the instrument, and, in the prior art, some mouthpieces of this type have been provided with adjustment means permitting the width of the blade-casing gap of the mouthpiece to be adjustably varied according to the preference of a musician. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,517,875, there is disclosed a wind instrument mouthpiece having a reed attachment assembly mounted at the top of a conventional mouthpiece casing. The reed attachment assembly comprises a reed support member pivotably connected to a frame, means for removably clamping the foot of a reed to a portion of the pivotable support member and means for adjusting the inclination of the support member relative to the frame.
The present invention is an improvement on the reed mouthpiece disclosed in the prior patent.